After fully exploring the Maguuma Jungle, it is time for me to set foot onto the Crystal Desert. I usually do not take a lot of time preparing for these trips, but you can’t forget to bring anything when you’re in the desert! It’s also important for me to wear my hunter’s mask at all times, so I do not breath in crystal sand particles that make up the desert floor.

Adi and I departed from Amnoon Oasis, and set out to uncover the secrets of Prophet’s Path. Immediately after slaying some scarabs, we found the huge bones of an ancient giant.

Next to the giant, were these very ornately inscribed structures. There were a number of races that lived here, such as the: Forgotten, Margonties, and ancient Elonians. So I’m unsure of their origin, and of the races I know about, perhaps there are even more whose names were lost to time.
Adi and I tried to make out the writings on these structures, but the language was foreign to us.

Even in such an unforgiving landscape, you can find wild lizards roaming about.

Ahh, I remember having to deal with this on my first trip through Tyria! This is a teleporter, and to use it you must play a little game. First, walk onto the platform where a series of runes form a circle. This triggers the teleporter switches to glow in a sequence. If you touch the switches in the right order, the teleporter lights up and will fully activate. Sending you to a set location that is usually visible from where you started.

A great deal of adventurers try to either activate the switches with multiple people at once or simply do not follow the sequence properly. Causing much grief and arguments throughout the party! I find it best if all but one person stands on the rune circle, and the remaining party member activates the switches.

The runes themselves that make up this magical teleporter are also of a language unknown to Adi and myself.

Giant pillars with praying figures adorning it can be found throughout Prophet’s Path.

More hiding spaces were found, carved into the side of a rocky hill.

It seems that the collectors of items here are ancient ghostly Elonians. I spoke with Kyle the Rich, who wanted Losaru Manes in exchange for armor. What could a ghost need with manes? I wonder if he collected these when he was alive, and is stuck in some endless cycle.

In the same area as I found Kyle the Rich, there is a narrow pathway with shallow waters and some flora.

Following the path all the way east, I came across an area filled with Wind Riders! Adi was very disappointed that she had to fight more of these interrupting hexers. I was more interested in the remains of these abandoned structures.

Adi and I were investigating a sand dune when she slipped and fell in! It took me few moments to pull her out and dust off the sand.

Going back the way we came through the watery pathway, we came across the entrance to Heroes’ Audience. The ruined statues we saw can be found inside this outpost. I explained to Adi that according to legend, these statues were once animated and granted favors and magic to heroes. Such a tale can seem a bit hard to believe.

It’s still hard for me to believe that the Crystal Desert used to be the Crystal Sea! Long ago the Margonites and the Forgotten waged a war on the waters here. When the gods departed from our world, they raised the floor and the contents of the sea were displaced into the Sea of Sorrows. I would love to know why the Margonites and Forgotten were fighting each other, but if I’ve learned anything from living in Cantha… sometimes there do not seem to be any logical reasons!

While I was finishing off a scarab with my bow, Adi spotted two Bleached Bones. Here is what I found when I knelt down and read the journal entries on the bones:

(On the larger skeleton) The strange snakelike creatures have been harrying us day and night. This last attack claimed poor Nylund. I just hope that if my time comes that I don’t go the same way. Since then, a silent determination has settled over the others. They’ve begun calling the strange brown boxes ‘chestnuts.’ We’ve discovered that when we place them on the stone pedestals they light up. But either the teleporter is broken, or we’re still missing the key to activating them because we’re no farther then the day we arrived.”

(Found on the smaller one) Traeg plots against me, and for that I can’t blame him. I welcome his blade in my back, and only hope the gods don’t judge me too harshly when I reach the other side.”

After a long afternoon of exploring Prophet’s Path, Adi and I made our way to Augury Rock, a gateway to ascension, but only if you manage to pass three tests.